Luke 11:13 - If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him? A couple of weeks ago, we discussed how the Holy Spirit is described not only as a person (He), but also as a gift (Acts 2:38, 10:45). Notice it says if we can give good gifts (plural), how much more will God give the Holy Spirit (singular) to them that ask. THE Gift is The Holy Spirit. All the gifts of God are by The Holy Spirit. So what does this mean? It means that we have the potential to flow in any gift necessary for the moment, if we have the gift of The Holy Spirit. We may be stronger in some gifts than in others; but the “best” gift is the one needed at that moment (1Cor 12:31). Can God use you? The choice is yours.

Paul tells young Pastor Timothy to be sure and not neglect the gift of The Holy Spirit (1Tim 4:14). He tells him to “stir up” the gift inside of him, which is The Holy Spirit (2Tim 1:6). We must cultivate our relationship with the Holy Spirit, the same we do in our marriages. 1 Thess 5:19 tells us not to quench the Holy Spirit. The word quench here means not only to suppress, but also to extinguish. If you don’t stoke a fire, it will burn out. It must be stirred up. You need to stir up your relationship with the Holy Spirit, and not let it die out.

So many times, we think something isn’t real, because the fire is not there anymore. Wrong. That doesn’t mean it wasn’t real; it just means you didn’t keep it burning. If you let a camp fire go out, it doesn’t mean it wasn’t a real fire beforehand. It just means you didn’t tend to it, and it burned out. Keep your relationship with the Holy Spirit fresh! Don’t let your love grow cold (Mt 24:12). The Holy Spirit is the One who sheds God’s love in your heart (Rom 5:5). If you neglect your relationship with Him, there’s not going to be much love being shed. Then you can get hard hearted; and it all goes down hill from there.

Some key points in keeping your relationship with the Holy Ghost stirred up is: 1. Praise and worship in the Spirit (Phip 3:3). If you only praise and worship God on Sunday morning, you’re missing the boat. It should be constant (Ps 35:27-28). 2. Praying in the Spirit, you build yourself up (Jude 20-21, 1Cor 14:4). 3. Reading The Word of God (Jn 14:26). The Holy Ghost will shed light on God’s Word; and He will bring it to your remembrance. Like any relationship, effort has to be put into it. You have to make time. If you don’t have time for God, then your priorities are all messed up. You need to sit down and rewrite your schedule to include time in The Word, praise, and prayer.

God has so much in store for us. He doesn’t want us to lack in any gift (1Cor 1:5-7). He sent Jesus to give us not only life, but abundant life (Jn 10:10). We see clearly in Numbers 11:25-29, that God desires all of His children to flow in the things of the Holy Spirit (see also 1Cor 14:5). It’s not Him holding out; often times it’s us saying no. We need to say yes!

We’re not talking about eternity in Heaven. That comes through faith in Jesus Christ alone. What we are talking about is victory and blessing in the sweet here and now. A little Heaven on earth, so to speak. We need to desire spiritual things (1Cor 14:1), and not be ignorant (1Cor 12:1). We need to covet earnestly the best gifts (1Cor 12:31, 14:39). We need to be zealous of spiritual gifts, and seek to build up the church (1Cor 14:12). Notice the words “covet”, “desire”, “earnestly”, and “zealous”. Do these words describe your heart towards the things of God? Are you hungry for more of God? Are you stirring up the Gift inside of you? Are you passionate? I pray these words would describe all of God’s children. As we’ve already seen, that would certainly be His will. The Lord’s blessing be upon you, and until next time - rejoice in The Lord!